There’s yet another delay in the permitting process for the Morrow Pacific coal export project. But this time it’s not at the request of project developer Ambre Energy of Australia.In an e-mail Friday morning, Oregon Department of State Lands spokeswoman Julie Curtis reported that this time her agency asked the company for a deadline extension on its permitting decision to Aug. 18. The state and company agreed to the delay yesterday –- just two days before a May 31 deadline issued by Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber.“The main reason for this is because the Department needs further information regarding fisheries affected by the proposed terminal, as well as other information to complete our analysis of the project,” the e-mail says.The Morrow Pacific project would transport coal from Wyoming and Montana to Asia via the Columbia River. The coal would be delivered by train to the dock site in Boardman, Oregon, where it would be transferred to barges on the Columbia River. The project needs a permit from the DSL to build that dock, but that permitting decision has been delayed numerous times.The latest delay follows a protest last week where members of the Yakama Nation went fishing at the proposed dock site. The protest struck at the heart of Ambre Energy’s argument that its dock wouldn’t interfere with fishing on the Columbia River.DSL rules say the state can issue a permit for the dock as long as the action would not “unreasonably interfere” with preservation of water for navigation, fishing and public recreation.Members of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation and the Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation have submitted affidavits to the state indicating they have tribal fishing sites in the proposed dock area.Curtis says her agency will be gathering more information until June 30 and the company will have until Aug. 1 to respond to any questions from the state. After that, the agency will analyze the information and make a permitting decision.The agency will not be collecting any more public comments on the permit, Curtis noted in her e-mail:“The Department believes that the more than 25,000 comments already received are adequate to understand the public’s general concerns about the project.”

by Cate Huisman Sandpoint Magazine summer 2014Train traffic through Sandpoint is a familiar part of our heritage. We’re used to hearing train whistles in the distance, and if we have to wait occasionally for a train to pass, it’s a modest price to pay for the efficiency of rail shipment.But our relationship with trains is on track to change.Coal and oil shipments through town have increased dramatically in the past five years, and three major coal and eight oil-shipping facilities are currently under consideration for construction in Oregon and Washington. If all of them were built, train traffic through our town could double from the increased numbers already in place.This prospect has raised alarms not only in Sandpoint but in other communities along the tracks.In Bonner County, there are an astounding 144 “at-grade” crossings where we wait for trains to pass. A report by the group Forest Ethics states, “Communities with trains running through them could face an increase of more than four hours a day of waiting at the tracks if all the oil-by-rail and coal train proposals come to fruition.” More chilling is the effect these trains will have on emergency response times, as ambulances and fire trucks will need to wait more often.Pollution is another concern. Coal dust blowing off uncovered coal cars has the potential to foul both our air and our water as trains pass along waterways such as Lake Pend Oreille. Derailments could dump coal or oil directly into the lake, and although coal is an organic substance, it contains traces of toxins, including arsenic, mercury and lead, that can leach into the water. Exhaust from the five diesel engines necessary to pull each mile-long train will also contribute to air pollution.A derailment of a volatile oil train, followed by an explosion, is the scariest proposition. Within the past year, oil train accidents have caused fiery explosions in Alabama, North Dakota, New Brunswick, Canada, and Quebec, Canada, where 47 people were killed and a significant portion of the town of Lac-Mégantic was destroyed.“These suddenly focused attention on the very real danger of a highly volatile oil product, in contrast to the export of coal that is bad in a less obvious way,” said Gary Payton, an active environmental advocate in Sandpoint.The movement of goods by train is controlled by shippers at one end and receivers at the other, and for those of us in the middle, options are limited. Given the magnitude of concern, communities along the tracks have begun to act, including Sandpoint.The City Council in the past year has passed resolutions insisting that federal standards be created to track chemical components of rail shipments, that safety regulations for tank cars be implemented, and that plans for response to a derailment be reviewed and include the city in the process.Taking a longer view, the resolutions request also that “potential impacts to Sandpoint’s public safety, environment, economy, and traffic” be included in environmental reviews of the proposed shipping terminals. Such reviews are required by federal law, but in some cases they cover only environmental effects at the location of the terminal itself. The process of completing these reviews is complex, says Payton, and will last for the next several years.In the meantime, other cities have passed resolutions as well. The City of Sandpoint, Lake Pend Oreille Waterkeeper and Idaho Conservation League are working with towns along the tracks to raise their awareness.Go online to www.idahoconservation.org or www.lakependoreille waterkeeper.org to learn more about those efforts.

Crews have been working on cleaning up after six cars of a train derailed.The train was carrying crude oil when six cars went off the track causing the oil to spill into a ditch.No one was hurt in the accident but one tanker lost its entire payload spilling all over the ground near water.“Fortunately it was self contained in the area and now they are able just to vacuum that out,” said a crew member.Union Pacific says inspectors from the Environmental Protection Agency and Parks and Wildlife determined there is no risk to the environment.The train was only going 10 mph at the time of the accident traveling from Windsor to a destination on the east coast.It was the only train scheduled for that branch of railroad which cannot be reopened until the heavy tankers are turned over.“We’ll take some time and we don’t know when it will be compete, removing the oil from the tank cars. Crews will be working through that the rest of the night,” said a crew member.While considered small the derailment did get some attention from Washington.Sen. Mark Udall says the accident is a sign that safety standards need to be updated on the rails.

A green line of governors: Can Inslee, Kitzhaber stop energy exports? Coal, oil and gas proposals are flooding into states headed by governors who want to fight global warming.

By Floyd McKay Crosscut.com

Elections have consequences, it is often said, and the elections of 2010 and 2012 brought to the West Coast a solid green line of governors: John Kitzhaber in Oregon, Jerry Brown in California and Jay Inslee in Washington. Climate change is under attack in all three states, and rhetoric is building in the Northwest.

Conservation leaders are ecstatic about recent climate-change statements from Washington’s Inslee and Oregon’s Kitzhaber. They come as the region is targeted by Big Energy, which is seeking a pathway to Asia, a modern Silk Road carried on rails and ships.

Coal knocked first, in 2010, with proposals for huge export terminals at Cherry Point north of Bellingham and at Longview, plus a smaller Columbia River lash-up of plans involving trains, barges and ships. This year, crude-oil trains from North Dakota’s bottomless Bakken oil field began making their way westward in significant numbers — the crude is not bound for Asia, but headed for West Coast refineries. Liquefied natural gas and liquefied petroleum gas, which would be aimed at the export market, don’t want to be left behind; the list is long and diverse.

For climate-change warriors, coal is the biggest and most-obvious target — climate scientists are united in belief that burning coal is the major villain in climate change. Oil and gas are also fossil fuels, but the argument there carries somewhat less weight on climate change. However, nasty fires and explosions from oil-train derailments raise lethal concerns, and governors are among those listening. Another fiery explosion of an oil train rocked Lynchburg, Virginia, causing the evacuation of more than 300 people from the city center on Wednesday; there were no injuries, but 15 cars were derailed and three erupted into fire, according to Reuters.

Kitzhaber, a Democrat seeking an unprecedented fourth term, has targeted coal for years, but on April 19 he delivered an imperative: “It is time to once and for all to say NO to coal exports from the Pacific Northwest. It is time to say YES to national and state energy policies that will transform our economy and our communities into a future that can sustain the next generation.” The capitalization is in his official text; Kitzhaber wants his message heard, presumably including by state agencies looking at Ambre Energy’s plans to export 8 million tons of coal a year through the Columbia River Gorge